Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker Detail

Description: Side One: From 1845-1912, justices on the Florida Supreme Court met in two locations in the Old Capitol Building. In 1912, the court moved into the Whitfield Building, named for long-serving Supreme Court Justice James Whitfield, which it shared with the Florida Railroad Commission until 1949. The Whitfield Building was demolished in 1978 to expand the Capitol complex. In order to modernize the court, a new Supreme Court Building was planned. Completed in 1948, this building was the fourth meeting place of the Florida Supreme Court. It featured elements of Jeffersonian Greek Revival style architecture, most notably the dome, and was the second building in Tallahassee to be fully air-conditioned. Considered expensive at the time, it cost $1.7 million to construct, which stirred public controversy. During the dedication ceremony on December 29, 1948, a time capsule containing historical documents and photographs was deposited in the cornerstone. It is marked "1948" in the lower right front corner. In 1949, the court moved into the building, which also housed the State Library and Archives until 1976. The building doubled in size in 1990 with the addition of two new wings that were built as part of extensive renovations. Side Two: Since moving to its current location in 1949, the Florida Supreme Court has been the scene of several significant events, including the investitures of Florida’s first African American, Hispanic, and female justices. From this location, justices have made decisions in landmark cases that include the Virgil Hawkins law school integration and Groveland Four wrongful conviction cases during the 1940s-1960s, the Gideon v. Wainwright right-to-counsel case in 1961, and the Terri Schiavo right-to-die case in 2004. The court issued an opinion in 1979 that allowed cameras in Florida courtrooms, and began live broadcasts of oral arguments in 1997. Many high-profile cases have been heard in the courtroom, but none more so than the disputed presidential election cases in the fall of 2000, known as Bush v. Gore. The courtroom was the scene of two historic oral arguments, on November 20 and December 7, 2000. A mesmerized world watched as lawyers argued over how to decide who would become the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush or Albert Gore, Jr. These two presidential election cases were the first appellate court oral arguments in U.S. history broadcast live in their entirety to a global audience.